


The Enemy Might Be Our Friend And Vice Versa

by ForensicSpider98



Series: Love After the Fact [19]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, All this stress is bad for the baby, Altean Adam (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Balmeran Hunk (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Galran Prince Keith (Voltron), Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Multi, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Olkari Pidge | Katie Holt, Post-War, it's keith. keith is the baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForensicSpider98/pseuds/ForensicSpider98
Summary: But the seeming idiot is definitely our friend
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Alfor/Coran (Voltron), Allura/Lotor/Romelle (Voltron), Haggar/Zarkon (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Love After the Fact [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635043
Comments: 28
Kudos: 221





	The Enemy Might Be Our Friend And Vice Versa

"Lance?"

"Hm?" Lance doesn't turn, watching the city rapidly come into view.

“Why the florist and forgemaster specifically?”

“Because I thought you might like them. Also, I need more arrows. My quiver is looking a bit sparse.” Lance indicated the quiver at his hip which indeed only had a few arrows in it. “The forgemaster himself isn’t a fletcher, but his daughter is. His son is a glass-smith.”

“Maybe you could take better care of your arrows?”

“You don’t use arrows a lot, do you?”

“No, why?”

“Well when you hit things with them, like bone or a tree, sometimes they break.”

“Oh. Sorry?” Keith squirms, unsure if he’d actually hit a nerve or if Lance is just messing with him.

Lance offers him nothing more than a deeply amused look, perhaps a little endeared. It’s easier to read Lance’s expressions than his tone. Keith doesn’t process sarcasm very well.

“Crown Prince Lancel! Prince Yorak!” Keith turns, drawing his braid over his shoulder. It’s Lord Lanval, pulling a young woman over by her hand.

“Hello, Lord Lanval. It’s a lovely day. Who is this you have with you?” Lance smiles, clicks his tongue, dismounts as his shreika kneels. Keith follows his spouse’s lead.

“Your Majesties, may I introduce, informally, Lady Gloriana of House Trivaine? She and I are courting.”

Lance places his hand over his heart, bowing as he takes the lady’s hand, kissing the back of it. “My Lady, it is a joy to make your acquaintance. You have not yet been presented, I should think? Bold though it might be, I say I would remember you.”

“I am to be presented at the next ball, your Majesty. Forgive me, as this was not a proper introduction.” Lady Gloriana tucks a lock of pale pink hair behind her ear, blushing under golden scales. She has gold and pink eyes, too. She's beautiful. She turns to Keith with a nervous smile.

Keith bows, right fist over his breast, customary of his own people. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, my lady. What brings you here today?”

“We are-” 

Keith interrupts Lord Lanval. “I asked the lady. She can speak.”

Lord Lanval splutters, indignant, but Lady Gloriana blushes, seemingly a bit pleased. “We were on our way to the florist, but Lanval wished for me to meet you.”

Keith recalls something of Adam’s lessons. “We are on our way there as well. Something about me being seen among the people so that they don’t hate me quite so much. Perhaps you could help me?”

“Oh.” the lady giggles as Keith offers her his arm. “Well, alright. So long as Crown Prince Lancel doesn’t mind.”

“I have no objection at all, my lady. Perhaps you two could lead the way.”

Lady Gloriana nods, guiding Keith toward the florist, pointing out the things in the square that she likes, some of the more important people. Keith listens, asks her questions. Lance raises an eyebrow. Keith’s lessons are going better than Adam had let on.

Lanval falls in beside him.

“I don’t know if I told you, but I made sure the rumors of your… escapades made it to Daibazaal. I told quite a few people about it when I saw an opening. Including Prince Yorak’s mother.”

“Telling his mother might have been a little much, but I thank you. Thank you also for making that comment at the banquet. I wasn’t sure how else to break the ice. Or how to get him out of there before one of us snapped.”

“I know how lofty your ambitions are. I thought you might like the challenge. And you are most welcome.” Lanval frowns as Keith leans forward a little as he pays Lady Gloriana a compliment. Or perhaps it’s a tease, given the sly smile. Either way, she laughs, clapping lightly.

“Forgive him,” Lance murmurs, walking next to Lord Lanval a few paces behind. “He has the manners down, but the social mores still escape him. He probably assumes that because he’s married, he can do as he wishes. He’s emulating me a little too well.”

“It’s no trouble. Poor little thing needs friends. He did quite put me in my place, though, didn’t he?” Lanval frowns. “Is he really a kit? Lady Renli said as much at your wedding, though I put little stock in it at the time. Watching him since, however…”

“He is.”

“By the Ancients! Your Majesty, with all due respect-” Lanval seems horrified. As he should be. If nothing else, Lance feels gratified that he and Adam aren’t the only ones. Though to be honest, if Adam finds something morally abhorrent, people seriously need to rethink their lives. He sighs, turns to glance at his life-long friend.

“We are several things to one another, but ‘mate’ is not among them. My father posted a Listener outside our door. I made Adam take care of it. I believe my father still suspects, but I haven’t laid an untoward finger on Keith. Frankly, I refuse.”

“But that Alfor would even allow such a thing! Lancel, he’s your father! Our _King!_ ”

“I don’t think he quite understood. I think he assumed Galra age in a more linear progression, as Alteans do. But I agree, a better King would not trade in children. It wouldn't have hurt to wait a decaphoeb.”

Lance clasps his hands behind his back, watching his spouse navigate social activities with the help of Lady Gloriana. She beams, gently explaining social rules as he breaks them, guiding him through a conversation with the florist. The florist seems bemused, but willing to be patient for the prince. Keith, for his part, has a look of great concentration on his face, stumbling as he tries to learn.

“She’s beautiful.”

“She’s clever. And her own person, which is a trait we both seem to enjoy. I suspect that if Prince Yorak hadn’t put me in my place in the square, she would have done it later herself. Your prince… Are you sure he was a lord?”

“He was only appointed to his title a phoeb or two before he came to me. Before that… I think he spent most of his time completely alone.”

Lanval turns to him, alarm in his eyes, though not on his impassive face. “Your evidence?”

“I can’t say for certain. Call it instinct.”

“Your red quintessence edge serves you well, it would seem.”

“So it would seem.” Lance sighs, watching the florist lead Keith and Gloriana through to a back room. “Not that anything I have to offer does him any good. He’s not safe. My father is still subtly pressuring me to essentially _assault_ him. He struggles to understand our customs. He doesn’t know how to rule or lead. He can’t even eat our food! He’s out of his depth and away from his home-”

“And you care. Listen, I’m not that much older than you, but I’m old enough to know that giving a quiznak about someone when they’re in a bad place makes all the difference in this reality. You two don’t come across as lovers, though that’s more his fault. -He’d likely be uncomfortable with you even implying it. No point in attempting that sort of illusion.- But you _do_ come across as friends. Add to that the fact that you’re clearly very devoted to letting him make more friends, and you’ve got an excellent start to whatever sort of relationship you wish to have with him. If I may, your Majesty, what would you like to see from your marriage long-term?”

Lance is silent for far too long, which is answer enough. In the end, all he says is, “Seems foolish, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps not. For someone with a blue base, you’re rather dense when it comes to yourself, your Majesty.”

“That’s where you come in, my friend.”

Keith trots up, holds out a tablet. “Um, the florist says you need to sign this.”

Lance looks at it. It’s a digital receipt. He raises an eyebrow. “Why do I need to sign it?”

“It’s being billed to the royal family. I can’t-”

“You can.” Lance leans past his spouse. “He can sign for this, Sir. He is my spouse. What is mine is his, to do with as pleases him.”

“Of course, your Majesty. Forgive me.”

Lance waves away the florist’s apology, turns back to Lanval with a whisper. “There’s also that nonsense. He only has what power I say he can have.”

“Everything in good time, Prince Lancel. I know it isn’t your strong suit, but do have patience. Trees grow much more in summer than they do in winter.”

Lanval is still quite young, but the lord’s always been wise. Losing one’s parents at the age of six tends to do that to a person. Lance can see it, in the thin lines of grief beneath Lanval’s eyes, the creases at the corners of his mouth. It’s contradictory, given the smile ever present in his brown-eyed gaze. Lanval, like himself, knows well the complications that come with pain. Lanval also knows that people are just that: people. 

“Lanval, remind me to make you my advisor one of these days.”

“I am here whenever you need me, old friend. Either of you. There's something you should know: There is a whisper from somewhere in the courts that Altea still prepares for war?”

"What? Are you certain?" Lance narrows his eyes, watches Keith make some inquiry about the clay pots on the counter.

"I'm certain there is a rumor. What truths are hidden therein, I cannot say."

"Thank you. I will look into it promptly. Do keep an ear out." Lance smiles as Keith turns, holds out a hand for Keith to take. Lady Gloriana takes Lanval’s arm. “Did you enjoy yourself, my lady?” 

“Oh yes. Thank you for lending me your husband. He’s quite charming, in his way. And very pretty.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Lance smiles, shifting to put a gentle hand around Keith’s waist. It’s a sign not to fight the flow of conversation, one they picked together only yesterday. “And a very quick wit.”

“Well, we should get going, I'm afraid. My mother and father are quite eager to meet Lord Lanval.” Gloriana smiles at Lanval, who lays a hand over the one on his arm. Lance smiles too, seeing that their feelings are reciprocal. A lucky thing. An enviable thing.

They say farewell to their friends. Lance turns to Keith. “Are you still up for the forgemaster or are you tired?” 

Keith sighs. He’s exhausted. He likes Gloriana well enough, but trying to maintain that level of decorum, trying to learn and understand all of these things that Lance knows inherently is exhausting. His spouse smiles, takes his hand, kisses his cheek, leads him to their mounts still waiting in the square. “Tired it is. Let’s go home.”

“Lance?” Lance hums, watching the castle approach, silhouetted by a twilight sky. “Is it normal for people to talk about their partners like they’re not there?”

“Not really.”

“Wonderful. I thought she liked me.” Keith’s ears wilt.

“She does. Very much. Just… We’re all trying to learn how to be friends again, right? That doesn’t happen overnight. We must try to be patient.”

“Patience really isn’t my thing…”

“Mine, neither. But we must try, alright?”

Keith nods, silent. Lance might not know, but he overheard much of his conversation with Lanval. He hadn’t realized the two were friends, or that Lanval was essentially a spy for the prince. He hadn't realized that Lanval's comment about his youth and civility had been intentional. He also hadn’t realized the pressure Lance is under. How stubbornly Lance is clinging to something the people around him say should be discarded for the greater good.

He really could do much, much worse than a young man who clings desperately to his morals while his fathers bend and break them in the name of peace. Of all the royals -all seven of them- that Keith has met, Lance is the first one that he would choose to follow.

The longer he sits there, dwelling on everything he overheard, the more bitter Keith feels for his spouse's plight. This is especially true once he sees Adam waiting impatiently at the gate.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time on Love After the Fact:
> 
> Keith goes tf off on a king!


End file.
